Which brings me:

to a funny story about how I once had a crush on my eight grade math teacher. Actually, it's not so much funny as it is long.

congruent

Throughout the project, Nardi and O’Day present six ethnographic studies that describe how new information technologies either strike a delicate balance of "congruence” with their wider cultural ecologies or fail to thrive{cite Selfe and Hawisher}; this research method has been taken up by researchers in the fields of technical and communication, computers and writing, education and new media {cite nauseating amount of studies}.

the social life of information

Hilary> the preface>mythical silent scream.

Nardi and O’Day posit a new term—ecology—to provide new ways of thinking about the social life of information in “computerized technology contexts” (cite Johnson). Specifically, the ecological metaphor suggests that “tools, people and their practices” are inextricably intertwined and bound to local contexts: information ecologies are diverse, complex and continuously evolving “systems”(p. 51) of god HELP me,I just had a brief citational encounter with the letter F.

...

During that elapsing time, Latour, Woolgar and Collon blurred the boundaries between texts, technologies and human beings. Technical comm grew as a research discipline. Science and Action got published. Science communication became increasingly computer-mediated and I tried to vaccuum my cat, Shady. All of these events culminated in the publication of my next foundational text, Information Ecologies.

{Note: for handy reference, I've italicized the phrases that do not require drastic revision}.

m'kay?

Then, a considerable period of time elapsed. {Note: the committee will want me to revise this sentence}.

preface so far

Since Miller’s (1979) foundational essay “A humanistic rationale for technical writing”, scholars within the field of technical and professional communication have acknowledged that technical writing always happens in an institutional context, and therefore embodies “tacit commitments to bureaucratic hierarchies, corporate capitalism and high technology” (p. 616). This “humanistic” rationale for technical writing emphasizes that writing about technology is not an “objective” enterprise but a “communal” one: in Miller’s “reconceptualization” the field, scientific knowledge then becomes “the correspondence of ideas, not to the material world, but to other peoples’ ideas” (ibid).

my professional

My assigned counselor at Educational Accessibility Services is a
blind African-American woman with a PhD in a technical field.

There is a nerf elephant on her desk that you can throw and
hit. She says that mostly administrators, not students, "use" (i.e, assault) the elephant when they come in.

She strongly recommended that I get my own stuffed animal to oppress.

...

A careful exploration of the books around you will dispel the myth that the genre of the preface was invented five minutes before your QE exam.

Look:

Even Nardi and O'Day and {insert the author of your foundational text} wrote a preface for their books, Information Ecologies and {insert the title of your foundation text}. Watch the preface social and disciplinary centrality for the book, aligining the author's research with key issues and questions in the field.

A widely underexplored way to

write your QE preface is to read some prefaces. Not "prefaces", prefaces. You know: People put them at the beginning of books.

homegrown microfiche

There is nothing in our book, the Koran, that teaches us to suffer peacefully. Our religion teaches us to be intelligent. Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery. That’s a good religion.
"Message to the Grass Roots," speech, Nov. 1963, Detroit (published in Malcolm X Speaks, ch. 1, 1965

Stuck in commuter traffic on I-94, Hilary had the disturbing realization that, no matter what cool things god wanted to do for her right now, he/she/it/they could accomplish nothing without the cooperation of the people to her immediate right and left.

Spawn of Blogger

All parents of Hilary de-lurk here.

Dad, I study this stuff for my dissertation.

love, Hilary

the vanishing horizon of invisible work

Thought experiment: "Invisible work" (Nardi, 1998) reaches the horizon and falls off the edge of the earth.

The monsters that eat it are my object of study.

Look:

what the Liquid Narrative Research Group has made.

warning: appended table

The table in Hoff and Groot et. al is scanned on a bizarre axis, forcing the reader to risk spinal injury to get to the findings.

Specifically, this is a project about:

organizational socialization "in light of recent developments in communication and information technologies" (Flanagan and Waldek, 2005, p. 137).

This is the project in the field of:

Technical communication.

special information systems

After 4 grueling hours of searching out and resolving missing bits of information, Hilary got out her research notebook and drew three columns:

K. W. L.

She hoped to god that nobody saw, such as Sarah or Matt.

coding the data

Look ouuuut: the dimensions are going to collapse.

This is a project in the field of:

So far, that's all I've got.

Hilary>the dissertation project> stuck points.

blogging "underlife"

If you read this blog without posting comments, please post here. Self-identification is unnecessary: this is a pure mouse count (an anonymous "me" is fine).

Rationale: this is a 48-hour pilot experiment for the methods section of my dissertation project prospectus: if I can't prompt lurkers to anonymously self-identify, then I need to emphasize observational rather than interview data.

Hilary>dissertation project>methods>averting potential problems.

and the title of the blog would be

"Extreme parking".

tied up

Scenario for a fantasy research article: the free parking blog grows in popularity and impacts the shelf life of the parking spaces, which get consumed, roped off or fetishized in Beudrillard's next book.

textual fantasy

If I had a digital camera, a new anonymous blog would mysteriously start. The blog would be dedicated to the quest for "free" parking in the Cass Corridor.

that's ri-ight,

I said and sat straight up, eyes animated. We stopped talking before my bookbag got found: She doesn't even know that I have it.

The letter E smacked his face with his own hand.

"and"

that if you even glanced at that stuffed sheep, you were going to start talking.

transition words

"But as soon as you used the word statistically, I knew for sure that I was not going to get laid".

infuriating by design

The shower sprayer at my parents' house was designed by like, Trent Lott or something.

country roads

At the intersection of Commerce and Commerce, Hilary wondered how many people would die each day if for example McDougall ran both paralell and perpendicular to itself.

"In Callon's study of a research project involving scallops, for instance, the scallops take their place next to fishermen and the scientific community as stakeholders with which researchers must negotiate" (Spinuzzi, "Lost in translation", p.4) .

Holiday.

And now the office is virtually deserted.

dangerous intersection

Today in 9306:

Name deleted met name deleted and name deleted and
Then name deleted came up and met name deleted and name deleted, but I was in the elevator with name deleted's friend and the security guard looked at me.

critical self-framing

When and how did my intellectual life become so "submerged" (Dobrin, 1987)?

replication with a twist

Idea for a research article: replicate Spinuzzi's analysis in"the Migration of a Research Technique", only replacing "the prototyping technique" with "the International Multiliteracies Project", or no, wait, with "Design".

how you gonna pa-ay?

This morning as I was leaving for work, my downstairs neighbor CAME out onto the porch in her pyjamas, LOOKED at my windshield and started signing:

Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred ti-ckets.

Quiz: Are you Kim, Hilary or Shashi?

Time to drop out of grad school and:

Start a brand of snack foods called Never Again, designed especially for girls: Never Again snack cakes, Never Again potato chips, Never Again twizzlers, Never Again chocolate covered pretzels.

And I wish

that he and I could just sit down and have a rational conversation comprised entirely of PowerPoint slides.

Every two months

I want to shake name deleted out, fold him up and put him back into the friend pile.

Quiz: Are you Kim, Hilary or Shashi?

Meet Kim, Hilary and Shashi: three urban youths fighting over a very small pita.

Question 1:

When you wake up, your first activity is to:
1) Narcicistically read your own blog.
2) Look in the mirror and think "My naked body is noticeably cool. In fact, I think that more people should see it..."
3) Torment fellow creatures with the coffee you have made.

Now

Current location: My office (9306 Maccabees)
On ipod: "I left my wallet in El Segundo".
Current state: Grading, an unacknowledged mode of consciousness.
Weather: Draft from window reminds me of movie "ice storm".
Next action:
(1) Film myself entering my grades.
(2) Create e quiz about vanity titled "Are you Hilary or Shashi?" .

Last night while going between floors 9 and 10 to recopy my students' papers for the kajillionth time, I accidentally locked myself in the stairwell. After a search for an exit that lasted approximately as long as the fifth grade, I drew in my breath and triggered the alarm.

When I got down to the loading dock, the cadets were waiting with radios and handcuffs, demanding to know how a homeless girl had gotten up to floor 10 to photocopying paper comments.

Sharon is smart

Referring to bell hooks, Sharon neutralizes the haircut as a transgressive act:

>Peach fuzz is very radical and therefore (paradoxically) popular.

Waiting in line at the

Mini-Mart, Hilary suddenly realized that she has never been attracted to anyone who did not bear some resemblance to a frog.

boring operator

From a recent e-conversation with Sharon:

Maybe silence is a social strategy for getting the upper hand--but why would you WANT the upper hand if you can't strut around your office chanting: Whose the girl? I'm the girl! Whose the girl! I'm the girl. Go, go, go girl...

Which obsolete skill are you?

You are 'programming in QBASIC'. This programming
language (of which the acronym stands for
'Quick Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic
Instruction Code'), which is so primitive that
it cannot easily be used for any purpose
involving the Internet nor even sound, was
current more than a decade ago.

You are independent, in a good way. When something
which you need cannot be found, you make it
yourself. In writing and in talking with
people, you value clarity and precision; your
friends may not realize how important that is.
When necessary, you are prepared to be a
mediator in conflicts between your friends.
You are very rational, and you think of things
in terms of logic and common sense.
Unfortunately, your emotionally unstable
friends may be put off by your devotion to
logic; they may even accuse you of pedantry and
insensitivity. Your problem is that
programming in QBASIC has been obsolete for a
long time.


What obsolete skill are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

freshly fallen snow dissolves

on sidewalk mortar
like the smooth aftertaste of porter.

"School is not a fashion show".

What I'm wearing today:
Abercrombie "Fair Isle" sweater from Salvation Army.

As:
1) legwarmers (cut-off sleeves)
2) matching cutoff under jean jacket (missing sleeves=full range of arm motion)

With:
Actual schoolgirl skirt from Mercy high (also found at S. Army).

Point of fashion:
Implied use of scizzors.

irony in tech comm

This is how you insert a link, Sarah.

Documentary

I also want to take seasonal pictures of Yard Pile: Yard Pile in Summer, Yard Pile in Fall, Yard Pile in Winter, Yard Pile in Spring.

Beaujolais.

Last night while frowning meditatively at Yard Pile, I was briefly inspired to invite my best friend from elementary school to drink Beaujolais on the abandoned sofa on top of the abandoned car.

back to normal

11:32 a.m. Stare at office wall in breathless awe.
11:33 a.m. Eat celebratory lunch from Epicurus (Calories eaten: n/a).
11:40 a.m. Put "So good" on ipod (track 2 from "The Writing On the Wall").
11:41 a.m. Grade paper #11 (from infinite stack of papers to grade).

Yeah.

11:31 a.m. poverty ends.

anguish of waiting

Listen to Destiny's child CD "The Writing On The Wall".
Read the writing on the wall (of liquor store near house).
Count change in bookbag.
Look up contract guidelines.
Plea with program director.
Pray.
Beg.
Make cereal.
Listen.
Wait.

study hall

Graduate students date each other for a continuuum of reasons: sex, vanity, boredom and free food. For example, said Hilary to Grad Boy, I'm here because I failed Analysis and Interpretation of Girls.

attack thoughts

Next to fleeting "attack thoughts" like my QE comittee is disbanding and where did these sweat pants come from?, what worried Hilary most was her potential of being the underdeveloped dweebazoid who still drinks regular cola.

Bisexuality:

Because both parts are equally funny.

...

Weighing the experience of getting run over by a car and shot at against the bomb threat, giant worms, multiple accusations of boyfriend-stealing and loss of electrical power, Hilary sincerely believed that the most dangerous thing that had happened to her was her brief tenancy in the boondocks east of I-75 (i.e., St. Clair Shores).

no exit

Your hair is cute. It's kinda ghetto.
I realize that: I have an appointment to cut it off next Tuesday.
News flash: cutting off your hair extensions and walking around with the peach fuzz look is also ghetto.
Hmm...A realization dawned. Wait! I know! I know! I'll get a REALLY nice winter hat by Tommy of Fubu and wear it on my head until my hair grows out!
Yes, Hilary. Yes. That would definitely take care of the problem.

out of office auto-reply

Last night while buying tickets to Pride and Prejudice at the art theatre, I was hypervigilant in ensuring that a tractor beam could not locate and warp me back to the office.

news flash: I'm over it.

dear Fox 2 news,
Notice that, despite being autistic, I somehow worked through my anger at you without going on a murderous rampage. Maybe you should put THAT on the news.
Hilary

memo 2:" the system is down".

Dear Fox 2 News,
I've noticed that you enjoy presenting autistic people in a sensational and negative light such as: Axe murderer. Many high functioning autistic people grow up to work in relatively less sensational positions involving C&IT research, information systems and design. I'd be doing my work right now, in fact, except that your dumb honking commerical ate all of my bandwidth.

Hilary

memo

Dear Fox 2 news,
Thank you for undoing approximately 10 years of relentless social activism.
Hilary Anne

Criminal.

hip hop>what not to listen to>Eminem>The Slim Shady LP>"criminal".

MASH went to commerical and the Fox 2 voiceover followed me to the fridge for some pita:

SUFFERING from a form of AUUUUTISM, he killed his neigbhors IN COLD BLOOD!!!! Did his DISEASE cause his MURDEROUS KILLING SPREE?

"Now that's not right", Wally said. "You should contact like the NAACP or some shit".

"Look", Wally said impatiently, "what I just said was really funny".

"logic" problem

Hilary>social problems>name deleted>deletion of>solutions>unlikely.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Shash said cryptically. What? I replied. Then I punched um in the arm.

Title of talk: How PowerPoint kept me from giving this talk.

Academic tasks>difficult or obnoxious>giving a talk>prefacing a talk>Caganarajah.

The overarching theme of this talk was inspired by an event that I normally regard as an interruption.

Thursday night found me up preparing for this presentation by pasting the main points of this talk onto PowerPoint slides. I had to huddle next to the space heater because our furnace has pulmonary edema or something. Erykah Badu's WorldWide underground was playing on the stereo (which fit nicely with the theme of Geopolitics). The coffee maker hypnotically percolatd.

Then I clicked to upload an image into my slide: Suddenly, all the lights in the house went out. 5660 Cabot was off the grid. I never knew that visual explanations drew so much amperage.

the leaves

the leaves just be
the leaves be in obnoxious bags on McGraw, and the cars can go
around them. the leaves do not justify
the way that they hold back the gate in the morning. The contract of the leaves is automatically renewed. The leaves can not hear the regulation container. The leaves cover the unmowed lawn.

blog dreams

semi-daily thoughts about pedagogy>digital literacy initiative>technology and culture>technology and the interpretation of dreams

>hilary,I had a dream, not really about you, but about your blog last night. had
>something to do with Vicki Name Deleted reading it and commenting on the
>formatting. Name Deleted was also there. It's pretty vague, but enough to be
weird.
anonymous

My personal first blog dream happened in April: True to form, someone posted on my blog to tell me that name deleted had died. More recent blog dreams include one where I got trapped in a three dimensional comments box on Typepad and ran into Trish Name Changed on the stairs to the next box down.

Note: Blog dreams have tremendous potential as the weekly icebreaker in a tech writing course in which students are blogging their projects. You could celebrate their first blog dream with a commemorative song.

observation assignment. Note: under construction.

Assignment 3 (100 pts)
Students will write a source-based academic essay that incorporates visual information about the occluded genre. The assignment will begin with readings on the ethnography of writing. Then , students will conduct a naturalistic observation of writers working within the occluded genre. Finally, each student will produce a critical essay about the social and material conditions that influence the conventions (ie patters) of writing within the genre.

pedagogy>semi-daily thoughts>making assignments I want to read.

Anne with an e

My impression is that you get sometimes get into trouble because of the disability. In quotes, Sharon added hastily.

professional development

My Progress Chart

1:47 Email to name deleted about the observation assignment.
1:49 Email to name deleted retracting the email about the observation assignment.
1:51 Email to name deleted apologizing for the initial email and the retraction.

join my reading group

(me to gay boy at departmental mailboxes): Queer theory? No thank you, I'm already a fucking EXPERT on queer theory. Man, I'm only queer in theory.

developmental milestones

Why does folk psychology pretend that human development is complete at age four? We commemorate peoples' first words and sentences but tend not to follow-up with the rest of the story:

age at first multiauthored grant proposal
age at which first smoked down
age of first sexual encounter with married person
age at first impulse to drop out of graduate school and {insert auspicious-sounding idea here:set up fruitstand, write underground for cheapessays.com... }
age at which first stuck entire arm up horses' rectum during vet school

I see the light:

and, from now on, it is going to have to be one at a time.

Dethrone the Mushroom King

Super Mario Bros. Directory for the Maccabees bldg.
Floor 1. Caution: The floor is molten lava
Floor 2. You beat the game by collecting your paycheck without "dying".
Floor 3. Player A and Player B can not both fit into this elevator.
Floor 4. Hint: Margaret freezes when you look at her.
Floor 5. There are 35000 coints in my account. Ie, two dollars.
Floor 6. I still have 4 lives left. We can schedule that meeting for today.
Floor 7. Blow in caridge, whack against box and press "reset".
Floor 8. Gaa-h! Forward B! Forward B! Forward B! (Mario command for "duck).
Floor 9. BAby! You check your departmental mailbox--
Floor 10. I think that I have given up on saving the princess.

four prayers

1. Dear god: Let all things be as they are. Except the following: ....
2. Relatedly: May all creatures be happy and well. Except the following:...
3. God: Very funny! Now put it back.
4. p.s. the leaves are a nice touch. your handmaiden.

the radiating hum of sleep after a

sleepless night.